To celebrate NCTE's 100th anniversary, the Task Force on Council History suggested a volume documenting the history of literacy education and of NCTE. Edited by NCTE Parliamentarian Erika Lindemann, with an introduction by Task Force Chair Leila Christenbury, Reading the Past, Writing the Future contains about a dozen essays across an encompassing range of literacy-related topics.

The authors, Christenbury notes, are among “the finest in their fields.” And while NCTE’s history certainly is central to the book, Lindemann clarifies, “It isn’t a decade-by-decade history. The thinking,” Lindemann explains, “was that this book should make some sort of claim about American literacy . . .to show how NCTE has shaped and responded to these larger concerns, either as an agent for change or as a resource for teachers to meet students’ needs.”